Albania is hosting Western Balkan foreign ministers, several EU member states and EU enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi in Tirana on Friday ahead of the Berlin summit, with calls for EU action against Serbia set to be high on the agenda.
The Berlin Summit is scheduled for 16 October, and Tirana is hosting a number of ministerial meetings during the run-up. On Friday, the foreign ministers of Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina will be in attendance along with their counterparts from Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and the UK.
The meeting will end with a joint press conference between Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock and Varhelyi. It is expected that Baerbock will hold separate meetings with Kosovo and Serbia representatives, while a question mark hangs over whether a joint meeting will be possible.
The recent terrorist attack in north Kosovo is expected to be a focal point of talks, along with increasing demands from Kosovo and Albania, for the EU and member states to take a harsher stance against Kosovo. These include lifting measures enforced on Kosovo and putting them in Serbia instead.
These demands were made in the European Parliament this week, while Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has been clear he expects more from the EU, distancing himself from the bloc’s foreign policy for the first time last week.
Meanwhile, North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister, Bujar Osmani said if it was proven Serbia was involved in the terrorist attack, the country would withdraw from the Open Balkan initiative. Open Balkan was set up between Albania, Serbia, and North Macedonia with the aim of intensifying trade and cooperation at a time when EU enlargement was stagnant.
“After the 24 September events in Kosovo, I think that Serbia should make efforts to prove it was not involved in the incident because if there had been some state involvement, it makes our participation and the participation of other countries in Open Balkan impossible, since the idea of Open Balkan was reconciliation. I hope that such involvement is not the case, but if it is, then I really think we should reconsider our participation in the initiative,” Osmani told Macedonian media.
While Rama said it has fulfilled its purpose and the focus is now on the Berlin Process, both Serbia and North Macedonia have expressed wishes it should continue. A source told Euractiv that the process is not dead in the water, rather it remains in place should the EU disappoint regional hopefuls with unnecessary delays.
Speaking on the Kosovo-Serbia issue in Grenada, Rama said he is very worried about the situation because it “is a very, very dangerous situation, and it has now come to a point where year after year the potential danger has increased.”
He said the criminal activities in the north of Kosovo are completely aligned with a political agenda and a lot of nationalism, which is a big cause for concern.
As for measures against Serbia, Rama said, “the fact that the Republic of Serbia declared a day of national mourning to mourn the members of that paramilitary criminal group that killed the policeman was enough for The European Union to step up and say this is not European. This is not acceptable. This is not justice and is punishable.”
When asked if he fears a war will break out, Rama said this is a big word, but “before it is too late, measures must be taken, and we are following it closely.”
(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)
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